


liquid luck

by popnographic



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 04:26:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8042566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popnographic/pseuds/popnographic
Summary: Gou invites Sousuke out after work for a Friday evening out instead of just sitting in, and their evening may go on for a little longer than they'd both planned.Happy belated birthday, Sousuke. ❤





	liquid luck

When his phone buzzes and the text message is from Gou, Sousuke finds it difficult to keep a poker face as he reads it in secret at work. It’s a very unexpected proposal that makes his heart skip a beat despite how much he tries to tell himself it probably isn’t that big of a deal. It’s just him and Gou hanging out, nothing else.

As for what they’ll do, well—they never really struggle with that. In the years they’ve known each other, even since childhood, Gou and Sousuke have gone window shopping (or rather, Sousuke’s been dragged all over town by Gou who wanted to ‘just look at things,’ and he’d been there to make sure she didn’t empty her wallet on frivolous things), been bowling, to the movies, god knows how many times they’ve gone out to eat lunch or dinner together… This isn’t a big deal.

Or so Sousuke can try to tell himself.

The following Friday after work, Sousuke makes his way to the izakaya he and Gou had agreed on. She isn’t there when he arrives, but it doesn’t take her long to show up, half jogging up to him and wearing an apologetic smile as she stops.

“Sorry, did you wait long? They just wouldn’t let me _leave_.”

Sousuke shakes his head. “You’re all good, Matsuoka. You still have a few times on me to be late, considering how many times I’ve made _you_ wait.”

“Fair point,” Gou laughs. “Come on, I need a beer.”

 

* * *

 

One thing Sousuke’s good at when he’s drunk is to whine, but thankfully, so is Gou. They make a good whining duo, though no one really wants to hang out with them when they’re in this state. Well, it’s a good thing they at least have each other.

“I can’t believe even _Makoto_ went,” Sousuke mutters. “Don’t tell him this, but I always saw him as scared of not only the ocean, but like… everything.”

Gou snort-laughs, and clinks her half empty (or half full?) glass to his recently emptied one. He _thinks_ it’s his third. May be his second, or even fourth. “He’s scared of a lot of things, yeah. To be honest, I think his fear of flying was trumped by his love for Rin.”

She makes sure to coat her last few words in a few layers of sugar that make Sousuke feel like he’s gotten cavities. He shudders.

“Whatever, at least they seem happy.”

Gou hums. “I guess they do. Hey, I have an idea, if you’re capable of standing up and walking. Are you?”

Sousuke _almost_ wants to stand up and test this out, but decides to instead trust himself. Which may or may not be a bad idea, who knows.

“Sure, yeah. What do you have in mind?”

“First,” Gou says and pulls out a few notes from her wallet and puts in front of them, making sure to make eye contact with their bartender who nods in acknowledgement, “that. And then we leave.”

Sousuke frowns, and is just about to protest when Gou puts a hand up and wordlessly tells him not to.

“Let me take this for once, Sousuke.”

He opens his mouth, but shuts it again, knowing it’s no use. Gou can get downright _scary_ when she wants to win an argument. And she always does, of course, because no one Sousuke knows would dare try and challenge her.

“Fine,” he says, knowing better. Gou nods once, and hooks her arm in his.

“Good. Now let’s go.”

On slightly unsteady feet, Sousuke follows Gou out of the izakaya, and the two begin walking down the street to a place Sousuke doesn’t know. He doesn’t get why there’s so many secrets all of a sudden; Gou’s pretty much the only one he’s never been able to hide anything from. And while she may be better than him at hiding things, she’s an honest person and wants things to be even between them. As they should be; Sousuke’s glad he’s got such a mature and level-headed woman like Gou in his life.

The streets are quiet, but there’s a few people out and about. Someone’s walking their dog, some people are on their way home from the pub or after a night out dancing. It’s a regular Friday night in a town that barely ever changes no matter how much time passes. It’s strangely comforting to know that no matter what happens, Iwatobi will always stay the same.

“Alright, spill—where are we going?” he finally asks, but all Gou does is smile without turning to face him.

“If I told you it’d ruin the surprise, dummy. We’re just about there, promise.”

And she was right, because they finally stop on the top of a hill from where you can see just about the entire town of Iwatobi at once. It’s a breath-taking sight, to say the least, and Sousuke’s pretty sure his mouth is agape as he takes it all in.

“Pretty nice, right?” Gou asks, and he hears the grin on her voice.

“Uh-huh,” Sousuke manages. Stargazing isn’t an activity he does all that often—he wonders if he’s _ever_ done it—but he realises it’s a really good way to end off their evening together.

Using their jackets as pillows, they lie down in the grass on their backs, and just stare up at the stars painted across the sky. Sousuke feels a little dizzy at first, but it slowly dissipates the longer he just lies down. He glances to his side to see Gou still looking up at the sky, and she looks almost serene, a tiny smile gracing her lips and wonder in her gaze. And maybe it’s the beers talking, but Sousuke’s feeling bold enough to let his fingers tangle with hers in the grass. His heart skips a beat when Gou returns the gesture.

“This is nice,” he says. “I’m glad we came here.”

“Me too.”

“Do you know any constellations?”

Gou laughs. “No. I just think stars are nice to look at, is all. If you’re looking for someone who knows constellations, Rei is your man.”

Sousuke rolls his eyes. “Figured as much.”

Silence falls upon them, and it’s the nice kind of silence where nothing needs to be said, though Sousuke certainly _wants_ to say something, especially now that they’re practically holding hands while stargazing. Suddenly he’s afraid his voice might come out a wheeze or a few octaves higher than normal because he’s so nervous, but Sousuke takes a deep breath through his nose and steels himself. Now or never.

“Gou.”

“Hmm?”

“Can I kiss you?”

She giggles. “Sure.”

It’s not completely out of the blue; he’s wanted to for a while. A long while, really. Usually he wouldn’t be such a coward, but this is Gou, and she’s also his best friend’s sister. So maybe it helps that Rin isn’t in town, or even in Japan, because Sousuke’s pretty sure he’d get chased down by Rin if he knew.

He supports himself on his elbow, and while Gou’s still lying down in the grass—her red hair mingling with the dark green grass beneath, and her eyes glimmering in the light of the stars and the moon—Sousuke slowly bends down, and places his lips on hers. He tucks away a strand of hair just about in their way behind Gou’s ear, keeping his hand on her cheek, and Gou wraps her arms around him in response.

It’s quiet—except for the distant noise of cars somewhere down below—it’s peaceful, and it’s a nice summer night where they’re lying in the grass kissing after a few too many beers and watching the stars. It certainly wasn’t meant to be a date, but right now, that’s what Sousuke would like to call it.

When he tries to let go, Gou doesn’t release her arms from around his neck, and she kisses him again, a little more boldly this time. He laughs against her lips.

“I don’t know why I was so nervous.”

“Neither do I.” Gou lets go with one arm, and places a hand over Sousuke’s chest. “You’re very obvious. And cute.”

Sousuke’s cheeks feel warm, and he frowns lightly. “I’m not cute.”

When it’s getting _really_ late, the two get up and start heading back home. And while Sousuke’s definitely doing it on purpose, he wonders if Gou’s just trying to match his slow walk or if she’s as unwilling to have their evening end as he is. At least he’s glad he gets to unashamedly hold her hand as they walk, it makes things a little easier.

Sousuke walks Gou all the way up to her door, and when they’re standing outside, he reluctantly lets go of her hand. Gou looks up at him and smiles a little.

“You know, it doesn’t _have_ to end here. You could come up if you wanted to. For coffee… or whatever else you have in mind.”

Sousuke clears his throat and averts his gaze. “That okay with you?”

“Of course it is,” Gou says simply, and her smile widens. “Come on.”

Sousuke doesn’t exactly know what awaits him, but he’s pretty sure he won’t be going home tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://radiodread.tumblr.com)


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